A PAIR of dodgy builders await sentencing next month after changing their pleas to guilty, having conned an elderly woman out of more than £135,000.

Gary Davies and Tony James were due to stand trial on June 5 but admitted their guilt at the 11th hour.

In September 2006 the 83-year-old woman, who lives in Harrow Weald, was targeted by bogus builders, who knocked on her door and offered to lay a new patio for her for £9,000.

However, once the job was complete she was told it needed to be relayed for another £9,000 - before she later got countless calls saying she still owed money.

They told her that she still owed VAT on the work and threatened to take her to court if she failed to stump up more cash.

Including the £18,000 originally paid out, in total she shelled out £115,000 in cash instalments over the next year-and-a-half.

But the greedy duo returned to the elderly woman's home demanding a further two cheque payments for £44,000 and £56,000.

James, whose fingerprints were found on the cheque for £44,000, was able to cash £20,000 of that figure before stops were put on both cheques.

The £56,000 cheque made out to Davies was blocked before any money was withdrawn.

Speaking after the pair admitted their guilt, Detective Sergeant Jane Edwards, in charge of the case, said: "It is disgusting that someone so vulnerable and trusting has been completely conned by these people.

"From the minute she married she relied on her husband to deal with the couple's finances, so the minute she started living on her own she became a target for these ruthless conmen.

"I think the message for everyone here is don't accept work from people who knock on your door and certainly don't ever hand over cash to them. For a simple patio these people tried to milk this victim for an incredible £215,000, knowing full well that cash-in-hand payments are almost impossible to trace."